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OPINION

Esprit de corps important after troops leave military, too

Published 8:30 p.m. CT June 1, 2014

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Thomas E. Green, commander of the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard, speaks to fellow member Gary Edmondson. The group provides funeral services to veterans following military cuts. Paul Kieu, The Advertiser
Thomas E. Green, commander of the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard, speaks to fellow member Gary Edmondson following a meeting of the guard at the American Legion Post 69 in Lafayette, LA, Thursday, May 22, 2014.
Paul Kieu, The Advertiser(Photo: Paul Kieu, The Advertiser)Buy Photo

On June 12, Lafayette businessman Bob Lowe will go to Rockville, Maryland. Lowe will carry a check for $8,250, money collected from local acquaintances, businessmen and other veterans.

The money was collected to help Joseph Grabianowski, a soldier who was severely wounded in May 2012 in Afghanistan. You’ve probably read about the modern medical services that are keeping troops alive on the battlefield. Grabianowski may turn out to be the prime example. That sort of survival carries heavy burdens with it, and the Lafayette group wants to help.

That’s one reason for Lowe’s trip to Maryland. The others are to let this newest, youngest generation of combat veterans know that they can still be part of a band of brothers, and that organizations like the American Legion can fill that need to be around people who understand their experiences and problems.

Grabianowski shows what veterans in even the direst circumstances can do with the right support.

When he was wounded two years ago, he was escorting a stretcher carrying a soldier whose legs were blown off by an improvised explosive device. Then Grabianowski stepped on a second, larger device that damaged his body even more severely.

As reported recently in USA Today, he underwent surgery after surgery as physicians tried to stop a fungal infection that was killing Grabianowski’s tissue as it spread. Surgeons eventually amputated everything below his waist, the highest such amputation performed at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

Doctors made a last-ditch attempt to medicate the fungal infection. With a ventilator down his throat and using a grease pen to write, Grabianowski communicated his desire to stop the surgeries and, if his heart stopped, to be allowed to die in peace.

But the miracle happened. The infection began to respond to treatment. Grabianowski recovered. Now he wants to be able to live independently. He has made the first move in that direction by moving into an apartment building designed especially for wounded warriors. And, incredibly enough, Grabianowski is learning to skydive.

Lowe said that if you want to make a donation, you can call American Legion Post 69 at 337-233-3296.

The need to make sure veterans have a support network goes beyond the fact that more of them are surviving with more serious wounds. In military jargon, the operational tempo has been high for more than a decade. That’s another way of saying we keep finding ourselves in situations that require American troops. We have young people who have served multiple tours in Iraq, Afghanistan or both.

By some counts, up to 250,000 veterans are homeless. Post-traumatic stress is a frequent condition among those who have served in combat. It’s treatable, but other recent headlines have told us what a difficult time the Veterans Administration is having trying to connect veterans with the services they’ve earned and need.

Joining a veterans organization such as the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars can’t fill every need.

Sometimes, generational differences are a barrier. Grabianowski, for example, is 24. The youngest World War II veterans are now in their 80s.

But these organizations will put veterans in regular contact with people who understand their obstacles and may have solved some of the problems faced by those freshly discharged from the service. They also give veterans a voice in state capitals and in Washington, D.C., where veteran policies are developed.

Military units have always valued esprit de corps. And it’s sometimes said that combat soldiers fight for the other members of their squad, platoon or company as much as they fight for their country.

By keeping that spirit of camaraderie alive even after military service is complete, we can give our veterans the best chance to thrive in the civilian world.